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Washington, DC – A U.S. District Court Friday granted the National Abortion Federation (NAF) a preliminary injunction prohibiting David Daleiden and a number of other anti-abortion extremists from releasing recordings and materials they illegally obtained at NAF conferences. This came a day after Daleiden turned himself in to Harris County, Texas, authorities, and was processed, booked, fingerprinted, and had to post bond. His surrender follows a felony indictment by a grand jury related to his slanderous campaign against Planned Parenthood health centers. The same grand jury, after reviewing the evidence for two months, cleared Planned Parenthood of all wrongdoing.

Statement from Eric Ferrero, Vice President at Planned Parenthood Federation of America:

"This ruling lays out a shockingly deep and disturbing conspiracy to target women's health care providers, at any cost. Daleiden and his co-conspirators are extremists, pure and simple. As details behind these anti-abortion activists' smear tactics come to light, it’s clear that this was part of a broader political agenda to ban safe, legal abortion. We're still only beginning to see the true extent of this fraud against Planned Parenthood. We are are grateful to see the courts are holding these criminals accountable, and hope other officials will follow suit.”

“During the Annual Meetings, Daleiden and his associates would meet to ‘discuss our . . . strategy for . . . the project and for the meeting,’ including ‘specific strategies for specific individuals.’ The associates were given a ‘mark list’ to identify their targets. The group also picked targets based on circumstance: in one instance, Daleiden tells ‘Tennenbaum’ that it ‘would be really good to talk tonight’ with a particular doctor ‘now that she’s been drinking.’

"The day before the first set of videos was released, CMP put together a press kit with ‘messaging guidelines’ that was circulated to supporters. In those guidelines, defendants assert that their aim for the Project is to create ‘political pressure’ on Planned Parenthood, focusing on ‘Congressional hearings/investigation and political consequences for’ Planned Parenthood such as defunding and abortion limits."

“I have reviewed those transcripts and recordings and find no evidence of actual criminal wrongdoing [by Planned Parenthood]. That defendants did not promptly turn over those recordings to law enforcement likewise belies their claim that they uncovered criminal wrongdoing, and instead supports NAF’s contention that defendants’ goal instead is to falsely portray the operations of NAF’s members through continued release of its ‘curated’ videos as part of its strategy to alter the political landscape with respect to abortion and the public perception of NAF’s members.

“Moreover, a report submitted by NAF of an analysis of many of the ‘highlight’ and ‘full’ videos released by CMP concluded that the ‘curated’ or highlight Project videos were ‘misleading’ and suggests that the ‘full’ videos defendants released along with their ‘highlights’ were also edited.

“Defendants engaged in repeated instances of fraud, including the manufacture of fake documents, the creation and registration with the state of California of a fake company, and repeated false statements to a numerous NAF representatives and NAF members in order to infiltrate NAF and implement their Human Capital Project. The products of that Project – achieved in large part from the infiltration – thus far have not been pieces of journalistic integrity, but misleadingly edited videos and unfounded assertions (at least with respect to the NAF materials) of criminal misconduct. Defendants did not – as Daleiden repeatedly asserts – use widely accepted investigatory journalism techniques. Defendants provide no evidence to support that assertion and no cases on point.”

Officials in twelve states (Nevada, Kansas, Florida, Ohio, Washington, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri and South Dakota) have concluded investigations into claims that Planned Parenthood profited from fetal tissue donation and each one has cleared Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing. Officials in eight states (California, Iowa, Delaware, Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Colorado) have declined to even investigate citing a lack of any evidence to suggest wrongdoing.

Last month,Planned Parenthood filed a federal lawsuit against Daleiden and a number of other anti-abortion extremists, alleging they had engaged in an elaborate, illegal conspiracy in order to block women’s access to safe and legal abortion.

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Planned Parenthood is the nation's leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men, and young people, as well as the nation's largest provider of sex education. With approximately 700 health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood organizations serve all patients with care and compassion, with respect and without judgment. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable health information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives.